and many thought president obama wanted to go over in order to raise taxes. to do the same thing over the debt ceiling and get full blame for it, it could genuinely destroy the republican party, of course while destroying the economy. >> there is that little problem, for republicans. so what about this point, ezra, that the president, the federal government could easily meet its obligations on actual debt payments through bonds and that sort of thing. but it would be the spending, the discretionary spending that they would have to cut under these circumstances. so there wouldn't ever be, many republicans insist they wouldn't ever be a realistic prospect of default in this. and that is why the president uses the word "obligations," instead of the word debt because they may just agree with them that there wouldn't actually be a debt default. >> it is unclear, we literally don't know what would happen because it never happened bef e before. so a legal authority is not all obvious. so there is a question, for the treasury department, to decide if we pay off the b